Facets
by Fiery Peace
Summary: What is it that makes up a person? People can surprise us sometimes.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own these characters. Still wish I did,

but I'll live.

Facets

"What a beautiful day even if it is a Monday," Will Stronghold thought to himself as he sat on the school steps.

Today was a day like any other at Sky High. The sun was shining, the students were hurrying to class, Boomer was yelling at the freshmen, and Warren Peace was smiling.

"Hold up!" Will gasped, "Warren is _smiling_?"

"Will. Dude," Zach said hurrying over to his friend, "Something is most wrongly wrong!"

"What's wrong?" Will asked in confusion as he looked around, "Everything seems to be just fine."

"Dude! Warren Peace is _smiling_," Zach whispered conspiratorially, "That just ain't natural man. What's wrong with him?"

"Nothings wrong with Warren," Layla said as she sat down beside her boyfriend since she heard the whole conversation, "He's just in a good mood today. That's all."

"Warren _has_ a good mood?" Zach said in surprise.

"Of course I do," Warren chirped happily, "My mother and I got to spend the whole weekend together for the first time in a long time. We made brownies together like we did when I was a kid. It was fun."

"That's wonderful," Will said glad to see his friend smiling for once, "I used to help my mother bake stuff in the kitchen. I remember that I used to eat most of the cookie dough before we ever baked the first cookie. I really enjoyed that."

"My mom and I still make cakes together," Layla said smiling gently, "I still love to lick the batter from the mixer blades."

"I brought brownies for everybody to sample at lunch today," Warren said grinning, "I'll meet you at my table."

"Cool," Zach said in relief, "I'll see you guys at lunch."

The friends all split up to go to their different classes. By the time lunch rolled around everybody had worked up quite an appetite.

"_Warren_ cooked brownies and was _smiling_ this morning?" Ethan asked everyone in amazement.

"Yes and he's going to share," Layla cheered softly.

"I could go for a good brownie," Will said gleefully.

"Go figure that Super Boy is hungry," Magenta said sarcastically but with a grin to let all know that she was teasing before she excused herself to run to the restroom.

"Where is Warren and his fine delicacies?" Zach asked.

"I'm right behind you Glo-worm," Warren's voice answered.

Warren sat at the table with his lunch tray and a tinfoil wrapped plate. To everybody's surprise he was still smiling from ear to ear.

"Voila!" he said as he unwrapped the edible-looking brownies and presented them to his friends, "Bon apetit monsieurs and mademoiselles."

Each of his friends hungrily took one of the brownies and dug in. Everybody's eyes grew large as they began to chew. Warren watched them with shining eyes.

"Well? What do you think?" he asked eagerly.

"They are wonderful," Layla said before waiting until Warren's head was turned to hide the remains of the brownie in her book bag.

"This is great," Will gasped out as he coughed and grabbed his drink, "I just need to wash it down with some milk."

Will drank his full drink and then drank Layla's.

"Hey! That's mine!" Layla snapped.

"I'll buy you another," Will said as he stood up and called over his shoulder, "In fact, I'll go buy both of us another."

"Will's acting odd," Warren said before turning his attention back to Ethan and Zach, "So what do you think?"

"I _love_ them," Zach said with a watery smile just as Will and Magenta returned to the table.

"Hey Maj," Warren said as he offered her the last brownie, "Tell me what you think."

Magenta didn't see her friends frantically trying to get her attention. They were all miming different negatives to eating the horrid brownie.

"Oh my God," Maj said as her eyes widened and she spat the bite into her hand, "What kind of a sick joke is this? This isn't funny guys!"

"What are you talking about?" Warren demanded as he glared at her, "This is my mom's famous recipe."

"Recipe for what? This takes like death!" Magenta growled as she grabbed the drink from Layla's hand and chugged the whole thing down.

"Hey! That's mine!" Layla whined.

"I had to get this horrid taste out of my mouth. Get over it," Maj snapped before she began wiping her tongue with a napkin.

"Your crazy Rat Girl! The others love my brownies, right?" Warren said turning to look at his friends.

Nobody was able to look him in eyes, which made his formerly good mood blaze away with sizzling intensity.

"Ethan?" he growled turning to the last one in the bunch who had yet to voice his opinion.

"Um…uh…well…" Ethan stammered before melting into a puddle of goo.

"Screw you!" Warren growled as his fists ignited and he stalked out of the cafeteria.

"Magenta! That was too harsh," Will admonished the girl as she continued wiping her tongue.

"Whatever," Magenta snapped, "The brownie was vile. I couldn't help that the truth popped out like that. You eat it if you want to."

"Maybe you should go find Warren before he fries something," Layla said as she drank the rest of Will's drink.

"Fine," Will said as he rose to leave, "You owe me a new drink Layla."

"Uh-huh," she agreed as she chugged his milk down.

Will left the cafeteria in search of his best friend. When Warren was truly angry you could follow the trail of smoke residue left on the ceiling. Will noticed that Warren was headed towards the gym in the wrong direction. This wasn't going to be pretty.

"Is Warren headed to the gym?" Ethan asked as the rest of the gang joined Will in searching out their friend so as to apologize for hurting his feelings.

"I think so," Will said worriedly.

"Dude! He's going the wrong way," Zach said.

"We've got to stop him," Layla gasped rushing after her friend.

Everyone followed Layla at a brisk pace until they finally caught up to Warren's blazing form.

"Warren! Wait!" Layla called out.

"Leave me alone," Warren snapped as the flames ran up his arms.

"You can't do this," Will said to his friend.

"I'll do what I damn well want to," Warren growled as his flames grew hotter and he turned and stomped down the stairs.

"I _can't_ believe that he just went _down_ the stairs that you are only supposed to go _up_," Ethan said with wide eyes, "That man is such a rebel."

"Whatever," Maj said starting down the "up" steps.

They all hurried to the gym and found Warren hurling fireball after fireball at various targets set up in the gym. He raged on for some time before seeming to cool off enough to sit down in the bleachers.

"Warren?" Will asked worriedly, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Warren said calmly, "I just needed to blow off some steam. I am working on anger control."

"Well that's wonderful!" Layla gushed, "Good job for not destroying anything."

"Thanks," Warren said smirking as he led everybody back up to the cafeteria, "I think I know what's wrong with the brownies. I may have accidentally grabbed brownies from the batch that my mom and I left an ingredient out. I thought that we had thrown that batch away."

"What ingredient?" Zach asked.

"The sugar," Warren said, "Each of us thought the other had added the sugar and one batch turned out awful. Sorry about that guys."

"That's okay," Maj said answering for everybody, "I'm sorry for not considering your feelings before I reacted. That wasn't very nice of me."

"That's okay. I would have reacted the same way if I had been handed that particular batch of brownies," Warren said smiling, "And it was nice of the rest of you to try to not hurt my feelings."

"Layla," Will said as they all sat to finish their lunch, "You owe my a drink."

"Sorry Will. Magenta drank my drink and I had to wash that taste out of my mouth," Layla said, "I don't have any more money."

"But I'm thirsty," Will whined, "Does anybody have some money I can borrow?"

Unfortunately, none of his friends had any money to spare and they all returned to eating their lunches without showing much concern.

"This isn't fair!" Will growled seeing red, "I always help others and now I don't even get a drink? This sucks!"

Will shoved the table across the room and stomped out of the cafeteria. His friends merely stood up and moved their chairs to the new location of the table and continued eating lunch.

"He really needs to work on his temper," Warren said.

"Absolutely," Layla agreed, "You want to split his dessert?"

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

Greetings! 

As you might have already figured out, I am writing a bunch of drabbles that shows the different facets of each of the characters. I am hoping to illustrate the diverse way that each person deals with everyday situations with a comedic spin.

Just to let you know, this is just a bit of light writing while I finish a Sky High series called "The Dragon and the Falcon."

Read what you like.

Love ya,

Fiery Peace

Part 2 

"Does Warren work at the Paper Lantern everyday?" Zach asked one day out of the blue.

"I don't know," Will said, "Why?"

"I was just wondering if he ever did anything more than go to school or go to work," Zach said with a shrug.

"He goes to the community center," Ethan said offhandedly.

"What? How do you know?" everyone asked.

"My cousin told me," Ethan acquiesced, "Warren coaches junior basketball with troubled youths. My cousin said that the kids all love him."

"Really?" Layla asked with interest, "That's wonderful."

"It gets better," Ethan chirped, "Guess who his assistant coach is."

"Who?" Zach asked.

"Magenta," Ethan answered.

"No way Dude!" Zach said, "Maj would have told me."

"Well, it's true," Ethan said with a smile, "Why don't we go and visit the community center tomorrow afternoon if you don't believe me."

The next day the gang all headed to the local community center to check out Ethan's story. Sure enough there was Warren and Magenta coaching a group of 8-10 year old boys and girls. Magenta was running some passing drills with one group and Warren was coaching another group on the proper shooting stance.

"Does everybody see how to place your hands on the ball," Warren instructed.

"Yes Coach," the kids answered.

"Good. Then I want you to line up and practice shooting the ball one at a time. Begin," Warren ordered as he noticed his friends standing in the gym door.

"What are you doing here?" Warren hissed, "Leave. I'm busy."

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa," Will said in a placating voice, "We just wanted to watch you coach. I didn't know that you and Maj were working together."

"It's something that just happened," Warren said keeping his eyes on the kids, "If you want to watch fine, but don't distract my team."

Will, Layla, Ethan, and Zach all found places to sit in the bleachers to observe the coaching duo. Maj and Warren worked well together and seemed to be able to relate well to each child's specific need. It was nice to see the two working together without any hint of sarcasm or brooding.

"Alright everybody," Warren said with a few minutes before practice ending, "Remember that we have a game this Friday so come dressed in uniform. Now we have time for one game of Shoot Out. Line up!"

The children all cheered loudly as the organized themselves into two equal teams. Everybody, including Magenta and Warren, lined up at the free throw line into two straight lines with each team having their own basketball. The object of Shoot Out seemed to be to try and get your ball into the net before the other person. If one of the players did not get the ball into the basket before the other player then that person was "out." The kids all screamed and cheered on their team until only Warren and Magenta were left in the game. The kids went wild when Maj finally out shot Warren.

"Take that Fire Boy," Magenta crowed as her team surrounded her in congratulations.

"I'll get you next time," Warren said grinning at his assistant before turning his attention to the kids, "I'll see all of you on Friday. Get out of here!"

"Bye Coach Warren! Bye Coach Magenta!" the kids all yelled as the emptied the gym.

"This is great you guys," Layla gushed to her two friends once all of the kids had left, "Why didn't you let us know that you were coaching kids here?"

"And why didn't you tell me?" Zach pouted as he glared at his almost girlfriend.

"I think that's what Layla already asked," Ethan said to his still-pouting friend.

"It's no big thing," Magenta said rolling her eyes, "My Uncle Bill runs the community center and when I came to visit I found out that Warren has been working with these kids for a couple of years now."

"Yep," Warren agreed, "I needed an assistant coach and when Maj discovered my extracurricular project, she volunteered. We've been coaching together for nearly a year now."

"That is so cool," Will said picking up a basketball to dribble with, "I never thought of the two of you as 'kid friendly' types."

"It's alright," Magenta said grinning, "It's more Warren's gig than mine. He really knows how to relate to the kids that need special attention."

"You're pretty good at that too," Warren said blushing.

"Dude! Your are _so_ blushing," Zach said feeling better about another guy working with Magenta.

"_No-I'm-not_," Warren growled with fire in his eyes.

"No! Not even! Absolutely not!" Zach squeaked out as he ducked behind a smirking Magenta.

"Well, I'm impressed," Layla said, "The kids all respect and love you two. It takes a lot to get a child to trust you. Maybe you two should think about a career working with children as a cover for when you are Super Heroes."

"Nope," Magenta said, "This will have to be a hobby. I have plans on being a fashion designer."

"What about you Warren?" Layla asked.

"I think that I may go into teaching or guidance counseling," Warren said sheepishly, "I really do enjoy working with these kids and I feel like I'm making a difference in their lives. Maybe I can help children that went through some of what I did growing up. It would have made my life a lot easier if someone could have related to me and made me feel that it was okay to talk with others about my feelings."

"You got my vote," Will agreed, "You have always had a way of putting things in perspective for me. Go for it!"

"You all think so?" Warren asked shyly.

Everyone heartily agreed with Will and gave Warren more encouragement to follow his dreams. Will saved Warren from further embarrassment by insisting on a quick game of three on three. The teams consisted of Warren, Layla, and Ethan versus Magenta, Zach, and Will.

"Are you sure you really want to do this?" Warren asked Will, "I saw you dribble and some of the kids on the team do better than you do."

"Oh yeah?" Will said grinning as he faced off with Warren, "Trash talk, huh? I can take you!"

"Whatever," Magenta said rolling her eyes.

They all agreed to play until the score of 20. Warren's team dominated from the beginning. Clearly Magenta had gotten the raw end of the deal on team members.

"We are so kicking your butt," Warren teased Maj after Layla scored and brought the score up to 18-10.

"Try winning with Will on your team," Magenta snapped irritably as she and Warren watched Will try for a jump shot that ended with the ball not entering the net, bouncing off the floor, and nailing Will in the unmentionables before slamming into the back of Zach's head, "That's it! We forfeit!"

"Hey Stronghold," Warren said with a naughty grin to his friend rolling on the gym floor, "Guess not everything on you is invincible."

"Shut up Warren," Will groaned as his friend helped him to his feet, "You mind if I never play basketball with you again?"

"Sure," Warren laughed, "Guess nobody is perfect."

"You got that straight," Zach snapped rubbing the back of his head, "You are a disaster on the court, Dude!"

"Sorry Zach. Sorry Magenta," Will apologized.

"Let's all come to the game on Friday and cheer on the kids," Layla suggested, "It'll be fun."

"We're in," Zach and Ethan said together.

"Count on me," Will laughed, "I'll do better cheering for your basketball team than trying to play. Since my team lost because of me, how about if we stop for some ice cream on the way home? My treat."

"Now _that_ sounds like a plan," Warren said with a smirk, "Let's go."

The group soon became the unofficial cheerleaders for the community center. When there was a game, all the children looked forward to seeing Layla, Will, Ethan, and Zach cheering them to victory.

To be continued…

Review.


	3. Chapter 3

Don't own the characters.

Part 3 

Zach had a secret and the gang all knew it. It was a fact that Zach had been diligently working on something for awhile now and he wouldn't let anybody know what it was or why.

"What do you think he's up to?" Magenta asked suspiciously.

"I don't know," Ethan said, "But whatever it is, it's not very big."

"Why do you say that?" Layla asked curiously.

"Because it fits in his bag," Will answered for his friend, "Ethan and I have seen him stuff something in his book bag on a couple of occasions. What do you think he's doing?"

"Maybe Zach's working on a surprise for somebody," Layla suggested.

"Like who?" Will asked with a grin.

"Magenta," Layla chirped.

"Yeah right! He's not that romantic," Maj snapped, "And if he's developing romantic tendencies then he'd better not be making anything for _anybody_ else but _me_."

"Maybe he working on school work," Ethan suggested.

"Who? Zach?" Will laughed, "No way."

"Idiots," Warren growled from behind his latest novel, "Why don't you just ask him?"

"I've tried," Magenta griped, "He keeps saying 'nothing.' He's up to something."

"You guys are just paranoid," Warren said standing up and throwing his bag over his shoulder, "I'm out of here."

"Whatever," Maj grumbled, "Thanks for the help."

"You know that Zach comes to us with all his problems, right?" Warren asked everyone.

"Yeah. So?" Maj answered for the group.

"He'll let us know when he's ready. Just be patient," Warren said with a smirk, "I'm sure the glo-worm isn't into anything life threatening. Give him some privacy for Christ's sake."

After Warren left the group sitting on the school steps, the remaining friends all sat in uncomfortable silence.

"He can bite me," Magenta snapped, "I want to know what Zach's up to and I want to know now."

"I hate to admit it, but I do too," Layla said with a giggle, "It isn't like Zach to keep secrets."

"Well, I'm in," Will said as Ethan nodded in agreement.

The group put their heads together to come up with a plan of action. They all agreed that the next day would be the beginning of _Operation Find Out_. Zach beware!

Tuesday

_Mission:_

_Distract the subject so that others can look through his book bag._

"Hey Zach," Will greeted on the bus ride to school, "How's it hanging?"

"Pretty good," Zach said as he yawned, "How's it with you?"

"Can't complain," Will responded, "Did you enjoy that new XBox game I loaned you?"

"Dude! I loved it," Zach enthused as he turned to face his friend, "Final Fantasy so rocks."

"I know what you mean," Will grinned back as he watched Magenta advance on Zach's bag, "Don't you just love the fighting babes in the skimpy clothes?"

Maj was sent flying backwards before she could swipe the bag when an irate Layla barreled into her from the next seat.

"_Will Stronghold_!" Layla yelled hitting her boyfriend on the top of the head with a book with each sentence she made, "What a sexist statement to make! And what are you doing looking at half-naked girls on video games! I'm going to tell your parents! You pig!"

"Ow! Layla, ow! Stop it," Will whined trying to fend off his enraged girlfriend, "Ow! It's just a game! The girls aren't real! OW! OW! OW! OW! OW! OW! OW!"

"PIG!"

Still Tuesday

_Mission's logs:_

_Mission a failure_

_Never make Layla angry again._

_Destroy all video games with skimpily clad women._

_Scratch that._

_Destroy all video games with women in them so as to save your life._

The gang found themselves once again brainstorming to figure out a new course of action. Warren still refused to be a part of what he called a "silly bunch of twits' plans on invading the poor chump's privacy."

_Wednesday_

_Mission:_

_Make mischief so that subject has to leave his book bag at the lunch table._

The next day at lunch, Ethan hung back as the rest of his friends went and sat with Zach. Even Warren had joined them today. Ethan walked calmly to the table and sat down his tray before he walked over to Warren who just happened to have Zach sitting next to him.

"Hey Warren," Ethan said smiling, "Can I ask you a favor?"

"What do you want Popsicle?" Warren asked looking up from his ever-present book.

"I can't get this apple juice bottle open. I think it's stuck. Would you give me a hand?"

"Sure," Warren agreed taking the bottle, "Why didn't you just ask Stronghold? He was closer to you."

"Oh…um…I didn't think about it," Ethan lied as Warren looked at him suspiciously as he popped the top off the bottle, "Thanks Warren."

"Welcome," Warren mumbled returning to his book.

Ethan pretended to walk around the table and trip on his feet. He purposefully sent the juice bottle flying so that it mostly poured all over Zach.

"Aw man!" Zach gasped as he bolted up from the table, "Dude! That's cold. Ethan!"

"Oh. I'm _so_ sorry," Ethan apologized, "It was an accident. Why don't you go dry up in the bathroom and I'll watch your stuff."

"Better yet," Zach said as he grabbed his book bag much to his friends' disbelief, "I'll just go change into the clean clothes in my bag. I always carry a spare just in case as I was taught in Boy Scouts."

"Darn," Ethan groused before startling in surprise when he was spun around and hoisted into the air by his shirtfront.

"Some of the juice landed on _my_ jacket," Warren growled in anger, "What the hell are you playing at?"

_Still Wednesday_

_Mission's logs:_

_Mission is again a failure._

_Who knew that Zach had Boy Scout tendencies?_

_Did find out that Ethan could run really fast and that he could hide his liquid form in very small places._

_He won't be on Warren's good side for quite some time._

Magenta came up with a full-proof plan that would reveal Zach's secret once and for all. It would be _on_ the next day.

_Thursday_

_Mission:_

_Once again distract the subject so that an identical book bag can be switched with the subject's bag._

"Zach," Layla said as she pulled her tall friend to sit beside her on one of the lower walls in front of the school, "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure Layla. What's up?" Zach asked as he set his book bag on the wall beside him.

"I…I've been needing to ask you about…" Layla began as her boyfriend moved in for the switch.

"About what?" Zach prompted.

"Oh…um…about Will and I," Layla said as her boyfriend swiped Zach's book bag, "Do you think Will still finds me attractive? All he ever does is kiss me?"

"What?" Zach gasped as Will froze and looked at his girlfriend in complete horror.

"Do you think that I still turn him on?" Layla whispered in mortification as she realized what she was saying.

"I can assure you that Will finds you very attractive," Zach said nervously, "Why don't you discuss this more with Magenta?"

"I needed a guys opinion," Layla said as she witnessed Maj jerk the two bags out of Will's hand and put the decoy down for Zach to pick up, "I've got to go now. See you later."

Layla left a shocked Zach sitting on the wall wondering about her sanity. It was Ethan that discovered that Magenta had swapped for the decoy rather than the real bag. Warren wouldn't stop laughing since he witnessed the whole thing.

_Still Thursday_

_Mission's logs:_

_Mission a failure._

_God damn, son-of-a-freaking-BLANK!_

_How hard is it to switch a BLANK-ing book bag? How the hell do you switch a bag with the same BLANK-ing bag?_

_And why the hell did Layla bring up our love life?_

_Was that the best she could do?_

_Kill Warren Peace!_

_ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!_

Warren could take no more of his friends' idiocy and the next day at school he pulled everybody, including Zach, into an empty classroom.

"Okay. Spill," Warren demanded of Zach.

"What?" Zach asked in confusion.

"You guys 'outed' my coaching for the community center and now I want these idiots to stop trying to figure out what you're up to," Warren growled, "So, out with it."

"It's nobody's business, but my own," Zach snapped.

"You're seeing another woman, aren't you?" Magenta demanded angrily, "You're making things for her!"

"No I'm not!" Zach denied, "I'd never do that to you."

"Whatever! Then why won't you tell me what you're doing?" Maj said clearly upset, "I though you trusted me. I thought you trusted our friends."

"I do," Zach said softly, "Fine. Here."

Maj eagerly snatched Zach's offered bag and took little time in pawing through it. She pulled out Zach's secret and gasped in surprise. Magenta turned her shocked face towards Zach and was completely speechless.

"_KNITTING_?" Warren gasped doubling over in laughter, "These morons have been plotting to find out that you were _knitting_?"

"Shut up!" Zach huffed as he snatched up his small, pink creation, "Look! My grams taught me how to knit when I was a kid. She was sick a lot and couldn't really play with her grandchildren so she sat us all down to show us how to knit scarves, blankets, you name it. I was the only one who enjoyed it and that made her happy, okay?"

"I think it's cool," Warren said as he took the pink creation out of Zach's hand, "My mom taught me how to macramé once. I loved making all those stupid bracelets as a kid. Is this a blanket?"

"That's what I though it was," Layla said as she leaned over to examine Zach's work, "You are really good Zach."

"Um…thank you," Zach said blushing, "My grams always knitted a baby blanket for all her grandchildren. My aunt just had a baby girl, but my grams passed away last spring so my new cousin won't get a blanket. I just thought since Grams taught me that I would make the blanket in my Grams' place."

"That's so sweet," Layla gushed.

"So why didn't you tell us?" Will asked.

"I didn't want you to make fun of me," Zach admitted, "It's not everyday that you find a guy knitting a pink, baby blanket."

"I think it's awesome," Magenta said, "It's wonderful that you would do this for your cousin. I'm sorry that we all got paranoid. Especially me. I want you to know that Warren refused to help us until today. He said we had 'no right to invade your privacy' and he was right. I apologize."

"Me too," Will and Layla chorused together.

"I'm really sorry too," Ethan said, "I'd love if you would teach me to knit sometime."

"Really?" Zach asked as his other friends all nodded in agreement, "Sure. I accept your apology and I'll show you how to knit a scarf as soon as I'm done with little Kaylen's blankie.

To everybody's surprise it was Will who developed an amazing talent for knitting under Zach's tutelage. Go figure!

To be continued…

**I need your help!**

**Okay people. This is your mission if you decide to accept it. What are some scenarios that you envision your favorite characters doing are getting into? Review or email and let me know. I will write the ideas that I love the most.**

**Thank you ahead of time for those who chose to help.**

**Love ya,**

**Fiery Peace**


	4. Chapter 4

Jeez Louise! I _DO _so hate annual, state reviews. A person cannot do anything but work during review time. I have missed writing so much. Thank God the dreaded review is over!

(You can't see me, but I'm literally jumping for joy.)

So on with normality.

Don't own the characters.

This scenario is courtesy of Riderazzo.

Thank you for your suggestion and I hope you like it.

Part 4 

To the naked eye Layla seemed to be the same old Layla that everybody was used to seeing everyday. She was still wearing her favorite colors of greens and browns. Her attention to others never wavered. She was smiling and seemed happy, but to one person in particular it was seen as the façade it really was. Warren Peace knew that something wasn't right. He knew it by the loss of sparkle in her eyes and the slight tightness in her lips. It was also not hard to figure by the drooping plants in her wake. Layla was not happy and Warren was determined to find out what had caused this change in her demeanor.

"Hey Hippie," Warren said as he snagged her outside in the little garden behind the school before asking bluntly, "What's wrong?"

"What are you talking about?" Layla asked blinking suspiciously innocent eyes up at him, "What makes you think that anything is wrong?"

Warren didn't answer. He merely gently grabbed her shoulders and spun her around to look behind herself. Every plant in the garden was drooping and wilting on the spot.

"Oh," Layla said looking over the disaster, "Um…oops."

"What's wrong?" Warren asked again as he spun her back around to face him.

"I really don't want to talk about," Layla said looking down.

"Tough," Warren grunted out as he crossed his arms over his chest, "So spill it."

Layla chuckled softly when she looked up at Warren. The look in his eyes let her know that he meant business and wouldn't let up. When Warren wanted something, he got it.

"Fine," Layla said sighing, "But I won't tell you here. This school has ears everywhere."

"Aren't you and Will going on a date tonight at the Paper Lantern?" Warren asked.

"Yes," Layla agreed looking puzzled, "I'm meeting him at 8:00."

"Then _you_ come at 7:00," Warren demanded as he turned to leave, "We'll talk on one of my breaks. Oh, and fix the garden."

"Yes sir!" Layla said with a happier grin as she turned to perk up the poor little garden.

That night Layla arrived at the precise time of 7:00 and luckily it was a very slow night so she was the only customer at the moment. She looked quite lovely in a mossy-green colored dress with roses embroidered on the hem, but her face gave away her wariness.

"Sit," Warren ordered as he showed her to a booth and they both sat down, "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure where to begin," Layla said as she fiddled nervously with a folded napkin.

"Start at the beginning," Warren said gently as he took the napkin out of her hands.

"Well…" Layla said, "Will and I have been dating a while now, right?"

"You think?" Warren joked before sobering back up at her withering look thrown his way, "A little over a year. What about it?"

"Um…well…Will and I have made out a few times since we started dating," Layla said blushing slightly.

"And?" Warren encouraged even as he started getting uncomfortable with the topic of this discussion.

"Will made a small comment that made me start thinking a little," Layla said not looking up.

"What did Stronghold say?" Warren asked a little testily since he knew that Will was not one to watch his mouth sometimes and had hurt people's feelings in the past by accident.

"He…he…um…he said that the way I kissed was different from Gwen," Layla said turning an unbecoming scarlet.

"What?" Warren asked in disbelief.

"Willsaidthatididn'tkisslikeGwenandimightwanttothinkaboutlearninghowtoFrenchkissbetterbecauseitisaturnonformenandthatikissedgoodbutheknewthaticouldkissbetterandican'tbelievethatiamtellingyouthis," Layla gasped out in one huge rambling statement.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Warren said, "Say that a little slower."

"Will said that I didn't kiss like Gwen and I might want to think about learning how to French kiss better because it is a turn on for men and that I kissed good, but he knew that I could kiss better and I still can't believe that I am telling you this," Layla said with a groan as she hid her face in her hands.

"You mean that idiot compared you to her Royal-Pain-in-the-Ass and then criticized how you kiss?" Warren growled in disbelief, "He's a jackass!"

Layla looked up at Warren's apparent anger in shock. She always knew that he cared, but this display for her sake was comforting.

"It's my fault," Layla said as she imagined Warren turning Will into a Shish-ka-hero, "I asked him to be honest with our relationship and tell me what he needs and I'll do the same. This was the first time he asked me for anything. I…I never knew that my kissing was lacking."

"Kiss me," Warren growled angrily.

"Wh…what?" Layla stuttered out in shock.

"Kiss me," Warren demanded, "Unlike what others may have thought, I have been kissed by a few excellent kissers. Let me see what the jerk is talking about."

"I can't do that," Layla gasped.

"Yes you can," Warren said, "We are just friends and I'll be making a judgement call. That way we'll know if Will is full of sh…"

"Okay!" Layla said as she covered his mouth with one of her hands, "But if I kiss you as a friend how will you know how I kiss Will?"

"Imagine that I'm Will," Warren instructed as he sat down beside her, "Really show me what you've got."

It took Layla awhile to get over her shyness and to imagine that she was with the love of her life, but finally she was able to show Warren her skills.

"Not bad," Warren said with a grin, "I still think that Will is full of…um…bull. Try this little maneuver on Romeo and he'll never think of Gwen again.

Warren then gave Layla a kiss that curled her toes up. When he was done she was left gasping.

"_Who_ the hell have _you_ been kissing?" Layla demanded with wide eyes.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Warren said with a chuckle before turning sharply at a gasp from behind him.

There stood Will Stronghold staring at the two of them with a look of complete hurt on his face before he turned around and walked back out the door.

"Will!" Layla gasped as she scrambled to her feet and caught up with him outside, "This isn't what it looks like."

"What?" Will gasped in disbelief, "I saw you kiss Warren and then I saw Warren kiss you back! What the hell do you think I saw?"

"Chill out," Warren growled angrily as he stalked out the door, "Layla said it wasn't what it looks like and it wasn't. I was just helping Layla…"

"Count her tonsil?" Will ground out punching Warren backwards several yards before he turned viciously and yelled in Layla's face, "We are _through_!"

Will took to the sky and left his devastated girlfriend behind.

"Will!" Layla screamed as she tried to stop him and when he didn't come back she burst into tears.

"I'll go get him," Warren said coming up to comfort his friend, "I know where he goes to pout. You wait here."

"He might hurt you," Layla said tearfully.

"No he won't," Warren said somberly, "Just wait here and help out in the restaurant. I'll fix this."

"Promise?" Layla asked as she moved towards the door.

"Promise," Warren agreed.

It wasn't hard to find Will. He always went to sulk at a local cliff that was outside of town. Will had shown Warren his favorite "thinking spot" as he called it. Sure enough, there stood Will as Warren walked up.

"Go AWAY!" Will growled as he heard Warren approach.

"You're an asshole," Warren said sitting down on a handy boulder.

"What?" Will snapped as he turned around, "You are sneaking around with _my_ girlfriend behind my back and you call _me_ the asshole?"

"One, we weren't sneaking. Two, you are an asshole for comparing Layla to Gwen."

"Wha?" Will asked in surprise, "How do you know about that?"

"I forced Layla to meet with me earlier because I noticed that something had been bothering her for awhile now," Warren explained calmly, "She told me what you said and she was pretty upset about it. You don't compare a woman to _another_ woman, doofus."

"So you made your move," Will snarled out.

"Nope. I had her kiss me while she was thinking of you so that I could see her skills at kissing. Layla is an awesome kisser and I kissed her back to teach her a few new moves. She was kissing me to make _you_ appreciate her more."

"You were teaching her how to French kiss?" Will asked physically deflating.

"Yes."

"And that was what I saw tonight?"

"Yep."

"And she was doing this all for me?"

"Yes, again."

"And she has been upset and I didn't notice?"

"Uh-huh."

"I _am_ a asshole."

"I couldn't agree with you more," Warren said as he moved to stand in front of Will menacingly, "Now _you_ listen to _me_. You go back to the Paper Lantern and apologize to Layla. You never hurt her feelings again by comparing her to another woman. You treat her like the jewel she is with the respect she deserves. You _never_ hit me again or I'll burn you alive where you stand. You got it?

"Got it," Will squeaked out as he took a nervous step backwards.

"Go now!" Warren growled and as Will took off he smiled good naturally, "Will, you're an idiot."

Layla still had a problem though. Will couldn't seem to keep his hands to himself anymore. The couple was often found hidden away in the school garden and for some reason the plants kept blossoming at the oddest moments. Warren couldn't be happier.

To be continued…

**I still need your help!**

**Okay people. This is your mission if you decide to accept it. What are some scenarios that you envision your favorite characters doing are getting into? Review or email and let me know. I will write the ideas that I love the most.**

**Thank you for those who chose to help already and thanks for those who may offer more ideas.**

**Love ya,**

**Fiery Peace**


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